Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 20.1-square-kilometre (7.8sqmi) municipality was the 627th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Vigra Municipality was the 528th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,571. The municipality's population density was 78.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (203/sqmi) and its population had increased by 15.5% over the previous 10-year period.[7][8]
General information
On 1 January 1890, the large Haram Municipality was divided. The western island district (population: 794) was established as the new Roald Municipality and the rest remained as Haram Municipality (population: 1,956). In 1911, the name was changed to Vigra Municipality.[9]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Vigra Municipality (population: 1,569) was merged with the neighboring Giske Municipality (population: 3,075) to create a new, larger Giske Municipality.[9]
Name
The municipality was originally named Roald Municipality, after the old Roald farm (Old Norse: Róǫld) which was likely the original name of the island as well (later the island became known as Vigra). The meaning of the name is unknown. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the name to Vigra Municipality.[10] The new name was chosen since it is the name of the main island in the municipality, Vigra (Old Norse: Vigr). The name is derived from the word vígr which means "spear". It is likely that a peninsula of the island was being compared to the shape of a spear blade.[6][11]
The municipality included the island of Vigra along with many smaller islets surrounding it. The highest point in the municipality was the 122-metre (400ft) tall mountain Molnesfjellet.[1] The island municipality was surrounded by Giske Municipality to the south and Haram Municipality to the north and east.
The municipal council(Heradsstyre) of Vigra Municipality was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Vigra Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:[19]
↑Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
↑Rogne, M (1937). "Kommunestyringa 1837–1937". Haram og Vigra kommune 1837–1937 (in Norwegian). Ålesund: Sunnmørspostens bok- og aksidenstrykkeri. pp.20–22.
